(unedited)

Cheetahpaw padded over to the fresh kill pile. It had been almost three sunrises since she had been made an apprentice and it had been great! So far she had done well and she was looking forward to what Opaleye would have her do next. "Cheetahpaw!" called Opaleye,"Aspenstar has chosen us to go to the gathering tonight!"

Cheetahpaw's eyes widdened, the gathering? The gathering was when the 4 clans could converse in peace with the leader of the clans. The leader of the high clan! He was the one who preserved the peace of the forest, the one who made rules like the elders can't tell stories anymore because it distracts from the presents, and always to question and make sure somecat is not tricking you.

"Are we going to see the leader of the clans?" Cheetahpaw asked Opaleye with wide eyes. Opaleye almost laughed at her awe. "Yes," she chuckled. "He'll be there, with his four guards, right?" "Right," answered Opaleye. "And now to a more serious topic, you may not approach him. If he approaches you, you must answer every question he askes truthfully or he will kill you. Got that?"

Cheetahpaw gulped. "Yeah..." she whispered dryly. "Calm down," said Opaleye. "There is a very small chance he'll do that, besides, you're just an apprentice." "Right," Cheetahpaw smiled a little to herself at this, realizing she'd been a fool to even dare THINK he'd come near her, a lousy apprentice. "When do we leave?" she asked.

Opaleye seemed pleased that her apprentice was so thoughtful. "We leave at sundown, now get some prey, alright? We'll be leaving soon." "Yes, Opaleye!" Cheetahpaw called over her shoulder as she walked to the prey pile. When she got there she picked out a large mouse, feeling particularly ravenous that night. "Be careful with that, you might swallow it whole!" said a teasing voice behind her.

Cheetahpaw froze up, hoping with all her heart it wasn't Aspenstar and breathed a visable sigh of relief when Elmpaw sat next to her. "What's wrong, forget me already?" he teased. Her whiskers twitched as she purred, leave it to her brother to take a load off her shoulders. "Sorry, Elmpaw, I'm just so stressed with training and thunsuch... it's taken all my strength to get it all done..." she trailed off. "It's okay," she Elmpaw more seriously. "I understand. I've been busy too ya'know."

"Okay, all cats going to the gathering, it's time to go!" called Aspenstar. Cheetahpaw leaped up, excited for her first gathering and realized that Elmpaw wasn't getting up. "Hey, Elmpaw, aren't you coming?" she asked. "No," he sighed. "They said they could only have one apprentice go tonight... though it's probably because Whitepelt has noticed that I've been so tired..."

"Oh, okay, see ya after the gathering, I'll tell ya all about it." she offered. His eyes visably brightened. "Thanks, Cheetahpaw, I'm glad you're my sister!" "I try, I try," she said, faking modesty. "Cheetahpaw, are you going to stand there all day?" called Opaleye. "Coming!" Cheetahpaw called as she sprinted after them.

"What were you up too?" asked Opaleye curiously as they ran with the rest of the clan. "I.. was... telling Elmpaw that I'd tell him about it." she said, trying to catch her breath. "Oh, that's so nice of you!" exclaimed Opaleye. "I wish I had that sort of relationship with Whitepelt..."

They stopped in a clearing by the lake near to a fallen tree. "We have to cross that?" squeaked Cheetahpaw. "Isn't it dangerous?" "Oh, don't worry!" said Opaleye. "It's worked for years, there's no reason for it to stop now!" "Okay," Cheetahpaw said, though she was still worried. After they crossed the tree onto the island they stopped in a clearing. "Oh look," said Opaleye brightly. "There's Willowleaf! She came! Oh, Cheetahpaw, how about you come meet WIllowleaf with me?" "Okay," said Cheetahpaw obediently, wondering what Willowleaf was like.

They padded over to a light grey she-cat as she was talking to a younger looking cat. "Hello, Willowleaf!" said Opaleye. "How have you been?" Willowleaf looked up. "Hello, Opaleye! She said brightly. "Meet Tigerpaw!" "You have an apprentice too!" exclaimed Opaleye. "This is Cheetahpaw, she was apprenticed to me three days ago! She's been great!" "Hey, Tigerpaw," said Willowleaf. "Gonna say 'Hi' to the pretty little she cat?"

I blushed a bit (Do cats blush?) and smiled. "Hi!" he said shyly. "Hi!" I said curiously. "So you're Tigerpaw?" "Yeah," he said. "Nice to meet you, Cheetahpaw!" We continued to chat a bit until Dawnstar gave the starting yowl. "Welcome, cats of all clans to the gathering! I believe that the great leader of clans will start us up!" she said, respectfully.

Once Dawnstar stepped out of the way a large black cat stepped out of the shadows. "Cats of all clans." he rummbled. "Welcome to the gathering! I have just one announcment to make before starting!" At this many cats started murmuring. "I wonder what it is," Tigerpaw whispered to me. "Yeah," I said wonderingly back, my eyes still glued to that huge black cat.

"I will be taking one warrior from each clan and training them to watch the clan's progress for me. I would like each warrior to be chosen by two sunrises and sent to me at my den on highrocks. That is all." he finished speaking and nodded to Aspenstar to take the first turn.

"Thunderclan is doing wonderfully with prey and we would like to announce two new apprentices: Elmpaw is being mentored by Whitepelt and Cheetahpaw is being mentored by Opaleye." As she said this everyone turned towards Cheetahpaw, staring as she sat straight and proud.

After that the gathering was a blur. Cheetahpaw only remembered talking to Tigerpaw and two other apprentice friends: Lionpaw and Leopardpaw. They had the best time talking and messing with each other that they almost visably groaned when Shadowclan, Riverclan, and Windclan had to leave. Thunderclan was staying for another bit to clear up the clearing after the summer storms. The clans took turns doing this when the weather got bad.

As Cheetahpaw went to look for Opaleye she stopped and the big black cat from before stepped in front of her. She stopped immediately and sat, promptly looking expectantly at him. She didn't even complain when he picked her up and brought her into a bush, like she normal would have, then he started to speak. "You. State your name." he said. "Cheetahpaw, sir." said Cheetahpaw, promptly. "Okay, hear me now, Cheetahpaw," he spat her name like dung. "If you even think about messing with me a will rip you to shreds."

She nodded, wide eyed and he let her go. She was pulling some sticks out of the clearing when Opaleye noticed how scared she was. "What is it, Cheetahpaw?" she asked. After a warning glance from the big cat, she said,"Oh, I'm just scared of that silly old log again, I know it's nothing, but I can't help it..." "Oh, that's okay," Opaleye said with relief. "Well, it's time to go back to camp, ready?" "Ready." Cheetahpaw affirmed.

As they ran home across the moor to the forest, she couldn't help but wonder though. What did he mean?